2003 Discovery Knocking!!
 

OK! I know everyone is going to remind me that this issue has been discussed a million times before, but nobody seems to have the definitive answer. I’ve heard everything from impending oil pump failure to the metal sleeve around the cylinders are shifting.

I’ve got a 2003 Discovery with 120,000 miles (Not in the oil pump VIN # death range!), and it has developed a metallic knocking sound at idle, only at operating temperature. Extremely loud at times! There are no other signs of engine failure (overheating, tailpipe smoke, consuming oil/coolant). I went to my land rover mechanic and he said that I should just live with it. He said that you can spend thousands of dollars trying to find the source of the knocking. As long as it doesn’t get worse, it should be fine.

I guess my question to you all is, am I living on borrowed time here (Oil Pump failure), or should I just drive like I own a diesel engine?? :)

Thanks!

Josh

see https://landroverforums.com/forum/ge...ghlight=pinned

you would also be prudent to have a mechanical oil pressure gauge test performed, cold engine and hot engine, idle and 2500 rpm. A cracked oil pump could exist along with slipped sleeve. Many times sleeves begin to slip after overheating. So you may also want to review your coolant temperature with a scanner or Ultra Gauge so you can see it in digital form, rather than the wide average provided by the gauge.

Not sure why you are even driving it if you have any plans on saving that engine. Have you checked your 4 different oil pressure numbers yet, if so what are they?

Oil Pressure Test!
 

Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to try to do an oil pressure test this week.

Hey Mike! Thanks for busting my balls! I brought it to the official Land Rover mechanic a month ago! He heard the engine, and said its running strong, so I shouldn't worry about it. He also said the knocking is endemic with Discos, and you could do a whole engine rebuilt and still get the sound! If ANYONE has a interest in keeping my Disco at the shop, it would be him!

Your mechanic is 100% correct, you are going to be wasting 1,000's of dollars and boat loads of time.
Switch to Rotella 15w-40 and drive it until it blows up, which could be tomorrow or it could be 10 years from now.

Its really a diesel and you dont know it.....:p

I agree with spike! Its such a PIA to miss with and get nothing back for results, unless you have unlimited funds.... :D If you do, I will send my address to you! :cool:

I wouldn't drive mine hearing a sound like that. I can take the engine apart my self and cost me nothing more than some time and some new bolts, but if you have to pay a mechanic to do the work, it will cost a lot. I don't see how it would cost thousands and still not find the problem, because you only need to remove the valve covers and rotate the engine to see if you can find the source, if not, you remove the cylinder heads and rotate the engine again to see if you can find the source. Between those two, you're going to find it. If not, you drop the oil pan and look on the underside of the engine block. If it's still not there, the problem isn't inside the engine. Even a mechanic shouldn't charge more then $1500 to do all of that and put it back together (unless maybe the Land Rover dealer, but any mechanic can do it really). It's a pretty easy engine to access, it doesn't have to be lifted out of the car or even rotated.

Rather than drive it until it dies, I would suggest selling it while it's still running. You won't get a lot for it, but you could get a few thousand out of it, probably enough to get a new car at least.

Haven't a lot of people reported flex plate noise only at operating temp and at idle?

I forgot the mechanics stethoscope. You can pick one up for like $15 and isolate the area it's coming from without taking anything apart.